Polymer Clay Canes for Beginners 27 videos, step by step, beginner cane workshop
What people are saying about this tutorial.
jennifer rose
Just finished this first workshop on how to make canes, and I must say I learned so much. This is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who could explain cane making in a step by step that process that I could replicate. I watched the videos, went into my studio and began to create all of the canes Alice showed. I finally have results I can be proud of, and I say thank you so much for doing this workshop. My only question now is when do we get more workshops. If you are only going to take one online class let it be this workshop. Thank you Alice for your hard work, and your dedication to helping others learn the joys of polymer clay.
Online Workshops with Alice Stroppel
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I drew this woman on canvas last June with the idea that I was going to frame her, she has been patiently wanting to become something. I found this perfect wooden stool at a garage sale this week-end, painted it black and now my girl has a home. I have several other pieces I’ve been working on and will be sharing soon.
She is going to be for sale and I’ll be telling you more about that by the end of the week. I have some exciting news to share and can’t wait for it to happen. See you a a day or two or three.
I been having fun with these polymer painted faces. This one I stopped working on late one night. I was happy with it and took a picture before stopping for the night. I had already cured it in the oven and attached it to a peace of heavy water color paper. the bits of color in the background are bits of pc not watercolor.
The first photo shows this first edition. When I saw it the next morning, I laughed because I could see right away that she was missing the top of her head. Not enough height to her hair. I was tired the night before and didn’t want to make any more hair I guess. Another reason why stepping away from a project and coming back to it or even taking a photo of it is very helpful.
I often see things in photos of a piece that I just couldn’t see when I was working on it up close. It helps to step back from the work, but sometimes taking a photo is even better.
The second photo is where I noticed that her shirt was just wrong, not enough shoulder. I guess I was too focused on the hair to notice the shirt first time around.
This is also another vote for sketching before hand, I did sketch the face, but didn’t know I wanted the shirt until I was in the middle of it all. So I work both ways, planning and as I go.
The third photo is my final try. Quite a difference I think!
I figure I’m a work in progress more than than work. As always, thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been working on a series of abstract faces using just polymer clay. It’s fun and kind of exciting to be venturing out into a different but same direction.
Another face, this time using polymer as if it were very thick paint. 
I know I said I wasn’t going to post today, but I wanted to say Happy 4th of July to everyone here in America. It’s a grand day for our country so celebrate and enjoy.
Plus…….I finished this girl last night and wanted to share.
When I was little my sister had a set of paperdolls that she drew herself. She created a girl and a guy and the girl had the most wonderful clothes. I loved the way they looked and wanted so badly to be able to draw just like my big sister. The paperdolls aren’t around anymore, I wish they were I’d love to look at them again.
When I made this girl I was reminded of my wish to be able to draw my own paperdolls, somehow I feel like that little girl wish from years ago kind of came true. The difference is her clothes are made from polymer clay and can’t be removed. Still having fun here and fulfilling dreams.
 I decided to do a couple more girls on bracelets yesterday. This picture shows each side of one bracelet and on the right side of the picture, all of the side put together to show what it might look like if it were a flat drawing.
I just received an package in the mail containing a large set of markers and couldn’t wait to try them out. In fact, I’ll be doing more experimenting today.
I’ve always been the kind of person that has to have every color of……well…..whatever I’m interested in at the time. I own every color of embroidery floss from years ago, every color of premo, every color of crayon (just because I love the smell) and I’m sure I’ve thrown away more supplies because I bought every color and then didn’t use them before they dried up.
But I’m not a clothes horse, I don’t have a million pair of shoes, but I probably have a million different kinds of supplies. They make me happy, they make me feel like I could at anytime create something wonderful because I have everything I could ever need to create anything. Okay, that’s not really true, I don’t have ALL the supplies in the world, but I’m working on it.
 These bracelets are really fun to wear because from the front, when it’s on your wrist, a person can’t really tell what it is. It just looks like an interesting, colorful bracelet. But then they say something about it and you show them the whole drawing, they are amazed. It’s pretty cool actually.
Then when you tell them it’s polymer clay, pen and ink, they want to know more. Mostly they say they can’t draw and could never do it. It’s really not true, everyone can draw something even it it’s just shapes and trust me shapes can be very interesting. But these girls are very basic line drawings.
Anyway, this is the face for the second bracelet. They will both be for sale in my Etsy Shop by the end of the day. Thanks for checking in.
I had this portrait idea in my head for awhile now and thanks to an idea nudge from a flickr friend I finished this girl last night. It’s a portrait mirror, I just covered the mirror part because of the reflection.
I’ve been having fun trading with new friends on ficker. I traded with Doreen Bell, an amazing Mosaic Artist, you can see her work here on Flickr. I traded several of my girls for a project she wanted to work on involving a mirror and the Seven Dwarfs of menopause. Here’s the crazy funky wonderful “Libby the Librarian” a hand held mirror Doreen created to make me laugh.
And you just gotta laugh at this girl. She’s even reading Alice in Wonderland.
Anyway, my girls on a mirror, I thought hmmmm sounds interesting, so I borrowed her mirror idea, thanks Doreen, and created the girl above. We Never Stop Blooming.
The other fabulous mosaic artist that I traded with is Laura Pattison in Spain. She wanted a crazy business card holder and I wanted one of her famous rainbow mosaics. I think we are both happy, I know I’m more than thrilled. You need to check out Laura’s work here on flickr
So that’s what I’ve been up to, plus a hundred other things, *g*. Have a great week-end.
 Balancing Act This week-end, I continued to stick to my resolve to begin (and complete, hopefully) projects that I have been thinking of for what seems like forever. This project is actually at least 7 years in my head. This is figure #1 in a series of 8.
 Here’s a shot without the experimental background, that’s another story. But this story begins in 2003 when I was director of the Highlands Art League. We were having a children’s furniture painting class one summer and I was in a thrift shop looking for inexpensive chairs and I found these beveled glass light shades.
 There were 8 of them and only $1.00 each and I couldn’t walk away. We were restoring 3 old houses from the 1920s and I thought maybe we could use them somewhere. I also saw bases for figures in my head. Mixed media art dolls if you will. Maybe a class when I had time?
I bought them and donated them to the cause.
I left the art league for a couple of years around 2004 and didn’t return until 2006. While cleaning and sorting, I came across them in a box on a shelf. A volunteer said, “We have no idea what they are or what to do with them.” I laughed and decided nothing was ever going to happen with them there, so a took them home with me a create those figures in my head.
 Her nose is kind of big and there’s a reason. It’s been awhile since I’ve done any sculpting and on the second baking, I covered her with tin foil again, but not well enough and her nose got very, very brown.
I had to cut off her nose to spite her face and build a new one. It ended up a tad bit bigger and not quite as nice, but I save her I happy to say.
Then next baking I remembered to cover her nose with polyfil after first heat setting with my heat gun.
I’m still playing around with what will be inside the beveled glass, but I just wanted to get her picture up and start another one. Practice, practice, practice.
Thanks for stopping by today.
I started out yesterday to continue to list more items in my Etsy Shop, but ended up here instead. I had this idea…..I know, so what else is new? I’ve been wanting to make larger items to hang on the wall for quite some time. The clay part of this one is 8″x 10″
It was another one of my wild ideas that turned into The Most Fun. I find that when I let go of the goal of making something to sell, I enjoy myself so much it makes me laugh out loud and realize that I should Never, Ever, Worry about sales. There are many things that I would do differently, but I learned alot and had a ball.
But taking sales out of the equation is a hard thing to do since it’s what I’ve done all my life. And now is really no different, I have to sell things, it’s just the way it is.
I’ve always known that letting go is the best way to create, I just have to keep remembering it. This one was for me…..however, I was thinking about turning this into a greeting card…….(grinning here) ……….. what do ya’ think?
 Business Card Holder My playing around yesterday resulted in the business card holder from the last post and this one that was glued on a plastic holder. It was easy breezy and maybe a great gift for kids to make for the adults on their list. Any design will do, it doesn’t have to be a girlfriend. Geometric, flowers, or more manly designs for the guys. You could match any profession.
I googled the plastic holders and found tons of them from .50 on up. Office Depot had them for .99.
Make your design, cure it and glue it to the holder with super glue. Do not bake the holder.
I put this girl on the wrong side for my cards, I didn’t realize it until it was already baked. But I’m not keeping it anyway, I’m keeping the one from the last post.
Tomorrow? The last idea from my day of the clay. Hint…..remember Pet Rocks?
 Coco-Nut I love this one….I’m still laughing and almost hope it doesn’t sell in my Etsy Shop even though I’ve listed it there. Everytime I look at her I laugh.
She has a palm tree….on her head………..I think I’m the one that’s coco nut. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have a great time every day.
 Coco-Nut  Coco-Nut I’ve combined leaves from my Tropical Leaves Tutorial and my Profile Face Cane Tutorial plus my Hair Cane Video to create this bracelet. Fun.
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